If one accepts the premise that the Ferrari problem is one of fear, one has to then work out from where this is coming. Logically, it comes from the top, and by this I mean Sergio Marchionne, the chairman, who is famed for his use of the corporate stiletto (and we’re not talking heels here), despite his avuncular jersey-wearing appearance. You tell Marchionne he’s wrong and you’re likely to be filleted from the organisation.

You do not win respect by building a wall around yourself and keeping the gates shut. Perhaps they debate these things within the keep of the Maranello Castle, but one gets the impression that geese can get away with saying “Boo!” to Ferrari folk at the moment.

It has lost control of its narrative, too. The wall of secrecy within which this festering distrust and vile temper has been fed is reflected in the message being portrayed to the world at large for the team has nigh on closed itself off to the media, a strange thing for a team run by a marketing man to do. I have never witnessed anything like it. And people's sympathies have started to run out. (..)

This should have been Ferrari's greatest year in a decade. Instead it has brought into stark relief the very worst facets of what the team that defines this sport has become and the ugliness that has permeated its soul. Win or lose, one can only pray that Ferrari soon finds again the beauty and grace which was at one time its hallmark.